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Paddock Project

At last, the rains and cooler weather have arrived and with that, suitable weather for more planting. Graham and I have a lot of time to make up – it’s been almost 5 months since we last planted in earnest. Over the past two weekends I’ve been planting salvias in one section but this past weekend we’ve gone back to planting more Australian natives. In this case grevilleas and callistemons. And their new home is along the back fence-line of our property. Intention is to get them to grow thickly together to around 2.5-3 metres in height and width. Ideal for the bird life. Makes for a good screen to block out the view beyond and also, hopefully, block the wallabies from entering our property over time, as they like to eat young plants when coming in search of water in the drier period. Not a good thing when you’re trying to plant up a new garden. We’ve gone for some prickly bushes as we’re told they don’t like those. And we’ve got quite a selection, pinks, reds, whites and yellows.

One of the best things we’ve ever invested in is the Power Planter. I’ve mentioned it before when planting over 300 bulbs (done in super quick time in soft soil) but just have to show you how easy it is to use. I was using it last weekend in soft soil to plant salvias, but the ground down by the fence line is harder, drier and filled with tree roots, and the occasional rock. As you’ll see in the images and videos below, while the ground was tougher, the Power Planter still made the job of digging holes for bushes so much easier. The tool makes the soil friable and so easy to work with. In the first video it was all done in less than an hour, and I just followed along behind my husband, placing a bush into each hole, covering it over and watering, leaving a small well around each for watering and then off to the next one. Along the way we did unearth some tree roots and my husband had to get the mattock out to dislodge a large root, which also turned out to be covering over a rock.

In the second video I planted 5 bushes in another part of the paddock in less than 20 mins. Again, hard soil and roots, but so much easier than trying to dig with a fork and a spade. Easier on the back and less time consuming.

Digging the hole

Struck some tree roots

More than a tree root

Found a rock!

Rock out

Bushes in

The paddock project is on sloped ground, hence the need for leaving wells around each plant. We need to ensure that the water doesn’t race down the hill, instead of allowing each plant to be suitably watered. We found with earlier plants we put in the ground last year before summer, really suffered because any water they did get, ran off down the hill without soaking in around the roots. We’re learning as we go along.

Over the past week, while my husband and I have both been sick with a cold virus, something began eating our roses in our paddock garden over night. They’ve been eating the new leaves off the plants and also nipping off the flower buds. Investigation around the garden soon found some scat lying around. Google searches showed it to be kangaroo or wallaby scat. Not impressed. We’ve been here 8 years and only once seen a wallaby in our garden and that was when we first started creating our vegetable patch. Haven’t seen signs of it since.

Below: Our iceberg floribunda with barely any leaves and flowers fallen to the ground, plus the Double Delight. The other flowers buds were all bitten off before they got to open up. Leaves have been eaten too.

We hunted around to try and determine where they might have gotten in. If kangaroos they could jump over our barbed wire fences which are only about waist height but if a wallaby then a lower entry point. We found one such point near our chook pen from the neighbour’s garden and we know he’d had culprits eating his new corn and sunflower plants which he is now fenced off with wire and stakes. We thought we would have to do that once the weekend came and we were feeling much better.

Well, Saturday morning came and I went out with a neighbour to show her some things in our garden and to give her some produce (rhubarb, zucchinis and blackberries) and I discovered that three of our new silver birch trees have also now been nibbled at. Lots of leaves gone, one of the trees has had its top bitten off 🙁 Probably because the roses have almost all been eaten now, they were looking for more tasty things. Why can’t they eat the grass that’s lying around? Lots of that needs mowing and it’s juicy as it grows in the area where our septic run off so is very green. Frustrating. We researched different options online and ordered a sonic tool that emits sounds that should help scare them off. That should arrive during the week but I also posted on our local regional Facebook group to see if anyone there had experience and suggestions for deterring kangaroos.

Seems I hit a raw nerve. Deterring must read ‘culling’ or ‘killing’ to some because sure as heck I got abused for not liking wildlife, told to go back to the city, accused of being an animal or nature hater and so it went on. Clearly these people don’t know me, nor have taken any notice of the nature images I frequently share. I’m both a nature and a garden lover and after being here for 8 years with no sign of regular nocturnal visitors eating parts of our garden, think it’s reasonable to expect to be able to plant a new garden to grow – not to be eaten.

We are sure the real attraction is our billabong. It has water in it. The creek down the hill would have dried up as this summer has been quite dry. To date we’ve had 61.65mm of rain (17 Feb). This time last year it was over 123mm, 122mm in 2016 and 133.45mm in 2015. So clearly a drier start to the year and the animals are looking for water. I get that. I’m not heartless. But it is so very upsetting to spend time and money, and our own valuable water, creating these gardens only to have them eaten by animals passing by in search of water.

Our billabong which is now quite well established with a life of its own.

Amongst the accusations on the Facebook group were some really useful suggestions of which we have taken notice. One has a flower farm and they put buckets of smelly stuff dotted around their property to ward off the wallabies. So we bought some blood and bone and some new buckets and have dotted them around the garden beds. We also bought some large bowls and have put water in them away from the garden beds, one amongst the juicy green grass near our willow tree on the other side of the garden fencing where we have found some of the roo poo. I also filled up the birdbath on the other side of a rainwater tank where we found a pile of roo poo as well near a birdbath. That birdbath is around 75cm high so it’s possible it’s not a wallaby that’s been sitting and drinking there but a kangaroo which is taller.

Another useful suggestion was to get some bunting and run two rows of it along the fence line, at eye height and below that again. We were going to do that but then changed our minds and thought it might be better to run the bunting by the rose garden and the silver birch garden so we set that up too. So, with containers of water, buckets of blood and bone (smelly stuff) and bunting by the garden beds, here’s hoping that there’s no further damage to our garden overnight. Only time will tell.

For those of you who live in other areas, having kangaroos or wallabies in your garden may seem like a delightful thing to happen. And if it were in other parts of our property where the garden is well established, then it wouldn’t be a problem. A nibble here and there would do little damage and would help to prune some of the foliage. But when you have young plants trying to grow and make their way in your newly landscaped garden, it’s a totally different story. Hoping we get rains soon – regular rains will mean the creek fills again down the hill and our billabong is an attraction no longer.

Have you heard about Gardens for Wildlife here in Australia? It’s a program that the City of Knox have been successfully running and the Shire of Yarra Ranges are looking to do the same. If you Google it you’ll find that the Albury/Wodonga area also have a program and there are sure to be many others too. We’ve registered with the Yarra Ranges one and I am looking forward to connecting with others and getting involved in the project.

Two or three years ago we began to wonder if we could do something with our back paddock. We’d had sheep on it ever since we shifted here in 2009 but I had, for some time, considered that 3/4 acres wasted land. We weren’t getting to enjoy it ourselves, only our sheep, in order to keep the grass down, particularly during summer. I began to dream of turning it into a garden but it was quite some time before my husband began to get that vision too. Once fully decided, we placed the sheep at another larger property in 2016 and then proceeded to start a rock garden and talk about what else we’d do. But it was such a large canvas to paint and was overwhelming.

Late 2016 I enrolled in a horticultural course for 2017 to learn more about the use of our land and trees and bushes and we also engaged a garden designer and shared with her, our vision.

If you’ve been reading the posts here you will have seen the Paddock Project posts which shows the work that was done during 2017 – a lot of landscaping which involved the carving of pathways, bringing in lots more rocks to complement what we already had here, adding creek beds to take rain overflow from our tanks and storm-water from the road, as well as from our own garden, and a billabong for capturing that water.

After that it is up to Graham and me to do the planting… and weeding. This will be ongoing for quite some considerable time but we’re hoping during 2018 we’ll have gotten a large part of planting done so we can continue with maintenance thereafter, pruning, weeding and cultivating.

Eastern Spinebill

What we both love is that we had decided early on to ensure that this is a garden for wildlife. We have lots of native birds popping into the garden and so we’re planting for them, as well as for bees, butterflies and other pollenators. Plus the occasional echidna, wallaby or kangaroo, we know there have even been a couple of deer here – although not keen to have them as regular visitors otherwise they’d eat our garden. A fox pops in now and then and we know there are microbats here too, I’ve seen them flying around at dusk.

Anyway, back to Gardens for Wildlife. I’ve linked to the Knox website above and the Yarra Ranges Facebook page. I encourage you to check them out. I also have a Facebook group which is currently small and I’d like to invite you to join it, if you’re into gardens for wildlife and have your own garden you’re developing for this reason. No need to be in the same area or region as me – just need to have a passion for this.

In the meantime, I want to share with you a video clip of two kookaburras enjoying our billabong and also a grid of photos I took a couple of days ago of a kookaburra preening after having had a dip. We’re currently mid Summer and it’s been humid and hot here so we’re sure that the water is welcome to many. Just last night we saw two magpies having a bath as well before flying off, leaving a spray of water in their wake.

It’s incredible to think of the changes that have taken place on our property in less than 12 months!

Two years ago we had two sheep living in the paddock, keeping the grass down. We had to frequently buy hay to supplement their feed and felt that perhaps it was a waste having them there and we should be using that space for ourselves.

So the hunt was on for a Garden Designer. I’m a member of the Horticultural Media Association and I asked there for suggestions on finding one. Three were suggested to me and my husband and I emailed each one, outlining what we wanted to achieve and seeking their experience in this type of work. Only one came back with answers that seemed to fit our needs so we had her come out and explore the property. In fact, she came back several times to measure up, walk things out and was very dedicated to the job in hand.

December 2016 we had our final plan in our hands but were going away on holiday so waited till early 2017 to start contacting landscapers to get quotes for the job. That was a job in itself! We spoke to four different ones in the end, got quotes from three, and then shortlisted two before making final decision. It wasn’t easy but in the end we made a decision for the person who seemed to have a vision consistent with our plans – he contributed a lot of suggestions and feedback on what we could do and these seemed to fit in with our own vision too.

Next we began exploring parks and other gardens for suitable pathway toppings so we could make a decision on what to choose. We looked at lots of other gardens that were open for display and began exploring where to purchase plants, bushes and trees at reasonable rates. After all, we were going to need to buy thousands for this 3/4 acre area.

The work was begun in May 2017. It was amazing how quickly the paddock view changed in just a few days. However, it did take four months of work, or 36 days of activity by the landscaper and his team, to get the job done. This was just the landscaping – my husband and I are managing the planting over time. We were grateful the work was being done through Autumn through to Spring (for those in the northern hemisphere, our Autumn starts in March, Winter in June and Spring in September) as this allowed us to see where the water coursed during heavy rainfall and to work out an action plan for overflow for our billabong – which is in the plan above. Also, the billabong had to be moved further to the centre due to a very large boulder being in the way of the digging. We do have natural granite right through our property which we have taken advantage of.

One of the most wonderful things happened too, in conversation with our landscaper. He organised to get some plants at wholesale price for us without charging extra and then he heard me say one day how I’d been to some nurseries to shop for more. That’s when he told me about Plantmark which is a wholesaler in the nursery industry. As long as I had an ABN (and I do) I could register with them. Guess where we now go shopping? It’s like a huge supermarket for plants and it’s paradise! Love it. If you’re in the Eastern states of Australia you could look for a Plantmark to visit too!

And during the earlier part of this exercise I signed up to do an Introductory Course to Horticulture at Burnley College in Melbourne. So glad I did that as it gave me a lot more insight into trees and their health and what they need, working with plants and soil, average rainfalls for our area and so on. Certainly inspired me and it’s possible I may do an advanced course later on – when not so busy that is.

Anyway, you can read the whole story of the progress if you look for the Garden Project blog posts – there are several there to cover the weeks of work that was done.

Today, my husband and I walk down to this area every single day. We sit on the deck that sits over the billabong (large pond with two creek beds leading to it) and watch the bird life and insect life that now visits there. We have had Eastern Banjo Frogs (otherwise known as Pobblebonk frogs) shift in and lay their frogspawn. There are now tadpoles living there. We also have native fish in the pond and hopefully will stay safe from the ever watchful kookaburras. We’ve had Australian Black Pacific Ducks and Australian Wood Ducks here on a regular basis. The Wood Ducks even had a family of 7 ducklings with them but we haven’t seen them for weeks now. We haven’t seen any herons or other water bird life yet, but expect that will happen over time. And we also have plants now growing and flowering in the pond. It’s developing a life of its own and this is just one part of the paddock. Planting is slow due to the time of year but once Autumn is here it will pick up again. But it hasn’t stopped us starting on the rose garden and also our silver birch forest. The paddock is now somewhere we want to be all the time and enjoy, rather than just having sheep to keep the grass down. So 2017 was a very productive year here and I expect 2018 will be similar. Will be good to compare the difference this time next year and see the growth that has taken place.

Despite it being summer Graham and I thought we’d get some planting done in our new paddock garden. There is a section at the top of the paddock which is usually damp, even through summer, as the run off from our septic system goes through this area. Consequently we need to plant things that didn’t mind having damp or wet feet. And Silver Birches don’t mind that at all.

Our garden designer had drawn up a circle for this planting but, because we have a pipe running through the top corner of this section leading to our rainwater tank for the paddock, we made it less of a circle.

We’ve always loved Silver Birches and the one type we’ve selected is Betula Pendula Alba. They are, by far, Melbourne’s most favourite tree. You see them in so many gardens and in streets as well. One of my favourite gardeners of all time, Edna Walling, also used these trees for garden designs. It is recommended to plant them as a specimen or in odd numbers. We’ve elected to plant 25 of them.

Here, we’ve planned where they will be planted, with around 1-1.5mtrs between each one. We’ve tried not to do straight lines but wasn’t always easy. We started with the perimeter first, and then inside to place each one.

A close up of the plantings. We’ve begun putting hellebore as underplantings and will be adding cyclamen, daffodils and also kniphofia over time, especially once the new trees have had a chance to grow and develop some shade.

This is the tallest one of the group. Hopefully this time next year it will be taller than me – and some of the others too. They are a fast growing tree and often grow an extra 6ft a year.

We had a friend come over to work in our garden early in the week. So nice of her to do that – it is a big garden and will take us a long time to achieve what we want done, so every little bit of help is gratefully appreciated. Our family of daughters have their own families and homes to look after so it’s just Graham, me and our cat, Toki, who comes to supervise whenever we’re out working in the garden.

With the weather being so topsy turvy on weekends when we’re free to work, we haven’t had a lot of luck in getting much done. Either too wet or too hot. So when someone contacts me to say they want to come spend a day and just help out in the garden during the week, it is indeed something very special for us.

She brought her lovely companion with her, named Shadow. He’s a very obedient and beautiful dog. Very well behaved. But we did have to lock Toki into the house as he’s very territorial and would have given Shadow a difficult time, as we’ve experienced one other time.

Our friend did weeding and mulching in the new garden area and Shadow kept her company the whole time.

We got the biggest surprise in our bush paddock garden recently. I went outside to do a bird count for the latest Aussie BirdCount and ventured down the hill to look at our plants and watch for birds. Imagine my surprise when I saw some ducklings with two adult Australian Wood Ducks.

Now, we’d had the Wood Ducks hanging around for a few weeks but we didn’t think we’d see any ducklings till next year, simply because there’s still not a lot of vegetation in the billabong or surrounding grounds. But this was a new pair with their 7 ducklings and they’d come to be by the billabong. I was going to text my husband who was inside to tell him but this was too exciting and too important. I rang him saying in a loud whisper, ‘we’ve got ducklings, we’ve got ducklings!’ He came outside within minutes and we watched from a distance. The parent ducks were aware we were there but went about their business, foraging for weeds and guiding their children along their chosen path. Fortunately for me I had my camera with my 500mm lens with me so I was able to get some shots.

The family of ducks stayed for four days before moving on to their next destination. I hope they come back! But in the meantime, here are some more shots for you to enjoy.

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Kathie M. Thomas is an Australian Garden Blogger residing in Selby, Victoria, in the Dandenong Ranges. 35km east of Melbourne and primarily classed as Mediterranean temperate zone, similar to warm temperate but with cooler winters, with an average annual lowest temperature 5°C. The summer is warm but usually with low humidity. Average annual rainfall between 900-1000mm.